


Air Born

by UnicornPunk



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Altean Lance (Voltron), Alternate Universe - Dragons, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, BAMF Lance (Voltron), Dragon Riders, Eventual Happy Ending, Galra Keith (Voltron), Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Keith and Shiro are Adoptive Siblings, No Smut, Platonic Soulmates, Slow Burn, Torture, galra alteans and humans share earth, lance loves the sea, shiro is captured, the lions are his dragon kids, voltron is a dragon god
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2018-10-12 06:34:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10484463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnicornPunk/pseuds/UnicornPunk
Summary: Every Altean dreams of being an Air Born, beings that share half of their soul with a dragon. Lance, prince of the Western City, happens to be one of these lucky people. When his family goes to visit the Eastern City, he finds a brood of five eggs in the temple--the last eggs of the great dragon, Voltron--and discovers that the blue egg belongs to him.Lance has a destiny much bigger than he thought, but all he wants is for his brood mates to finally get off their asses and find him. When Lance receives news that the Eastern City has been attacked by the Galra, the remaining four eggs destroyed, he's distraught.Suddenly, Lance loses both his destiny and his brood mates all at once and his life is thrown into chaos. That is, until a few years later when he saves a human from the Galra, a human that just so happens to be carrying one of the four eggs Lance thought long lost.Did the rest of the eggs survive? Does Lance have a hope of finding them after so long? And what the hell is wrong with this Keith and his pretty, stupid face? Lance doesn't know. He just knows he'd do anything to keep his friends safe.(reupload with plot changes after chapter 1)





	1. Lance

**Author's Note:**

> Air Born is back up! if you are a returning reader, I'll let you know that chapter one has pretty much stayed the same, but afterwards there have been major plot changes. Why? well, when i started writing this, there was no outline. When I reached Chapter Four, i began to outline it and realized that if i wanted things to go in the direction i needed them to, there had to be some changes. Hence this being taken down then re uploaded. 
> 
> That said, I promise i will never do this with a fic again. I regretted doing this with air born, even though it ultimately felt inevitable. And i am so sorry if this inconvenienced previous readers in any way. This fic exists because of you guys, because you love and read it. As a fan and a reader, you keep your fan fiction writers motivated and uploading and thank you so much for that.

Lance ran down the hallways of the castle, ducking beneath servant’s legs. He could hear his nanny calling for him, but the woman was far behind him, her footsteps loud and clumsy. Lance rounded a corner and covered his mouth to stifle a laugh as his nanny went running past.

“Lance Leones,” she roared, “you get your chubby butt back here right now!”

The moment she was out of earshot, Lance let out a breath. It was just his luck his mom had picked the worst of his nanny’s to take with them to the Eastern City. Lance wanted to explore! He wanted to visit the hatchery and go cake shopping with his big sisters, but his nanny wasn’t having any of that. Instead she kept him in the boring castle while everyone else had all the fun. He was eight years old for Voltron’s sake! He didn’t need a babysitter.

Lance puffed out his cheeks in annoyance, continuing down the corridor. Back home, everyone wasn’t nearly as strict with him. Lance spent most of his time down at the ocean, picking seashells and swimming with his mother’s dragon. He missed it. He wanted nothing more than to go back home.

“Stinky eastern city,” Lance whined, kicking at the carpet beneath his feet, “stinky mountains, stinky stupid dumb—”

The hall opened up and Lance cut off, eyes going wide. Before him was a large dragon temple, gold pillars forming a circle around the altar in the center. A stained glass star rested in the ceiling, creating rainbows on the floor.

Lance felt a thrill of excitement. He hurried forward, running his hands across the nearest pillar. There were scales etched into the metal, small gemstones accenting certain areas. Lance crouched down, running his fingers across a particularly shiny piece of opal.

His eyes caught on something on the altar. Lance glanced around nervously, looking for any priests who might yell at him, then wandered forward. The dragon statue that made up the altar was so detailed it looked like it could fly off at any moment. Lance pressed a hand to its nose. He almost expected the dragon to huff at him, but the scales were unyielding. Definitely metal.

A little disappointed, Lance turned to the thing that had drawn his attention to the altar in the first place. Wrapped in the spiral of the dragon’s tail was a group of five stones. Lance crawled over the bulk of the dragon statue and plopped beside the stones, eyes wide. He’d never seen anything so brightly colored before. Lance ran a hand across the crimson one. It was warm, almost hot to the touch, and soft. Frowning, Lance moved the red stone aside and froze.

Nestled behind the bulk of the black stone, was a beautiful blue rock. Lance felt his heart stir at the sight of it. It was the color of the ocean, the color of home. The young Altean was suddenly overcome with a sudden possessiveness. He picked the rock up, placing it in his lap, and something seemed to click into place. It was like a piece of himself had finally reunited with the whole.

The stone pulsed a bright blue and a warm feeling enveloped Lance’s chest. He nestled the top of the stone, squeezing it in a tight hug.

“Lance, there you are!”  His Nanny came bustling forward, eyes wide. “You should know better than to come in here! What if your mother saw you traipsing around holy grounds? What would she—”

The woman stopped mid-breath, her eyes going to the pulsing blue stone in Lance’s lap. She covered her mouth, her breath coming in huge panting gasps. For a moment, Lance thought she was going to faint.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t—” Lance looked over to the rest of the stones on the altar. It suddenly occurred to him that he was likely desecrating a very sacred place. He made to place the blue stone back with the others, ignoring the deep seated wrongness he felt towards the action.

“No, no,” his nanny was beside him in an instant, pressing the stone back into Lance’s arms. “Don’t you let go of that for an instant, all right? That egg is yours. It’s a part of you, and don’t ever let it go. Do you understand?”

Lance looked down to the stone. “Egg?”

His nanny nodded, eyes soft. She carted a hand through Lance’s hair and met his eyes. “Yes, Lance. And that one has been looking for you for a very long time.”

* * *

 

Lance’s mother wouldn’t stop arguing with the other adults. They were in the temple, the priests and the king of the Eastern City rallying against his mother’s protective instincts. Lance tried not to focus on the yelling. He didn’t like that he was the center of the argument, the center of everything ever since he had found his egg.

His eyes went to his mother’s dragon. Adelmo was a huge growling thing next to his mother, his yellow eyes bearing into that of the Eastern King’s dragon, Pandora. Pandora was daintier compared to Adelmo. Her scales were so white they were practically purple and her body was long, thin wings folded against her snake-like back.

Lance glanced down to his own egg. He wanted to ask what his own dragon would look like. He wanted to ask about the four other eggs that were his dragon’s brood-mates. He wanted to ask why the eggs were kept in the temple instead of in the hatchery, where their pairs were much more likely to come and find them, but no one gave him the chance. Instead the adultsad just kept _yelling._

“You are not taking my _son_ to live in some goddamn war temple! He’s a prince, not a warrior! I don’t care if the ancients chose him. He’s eight years old!” his mother was shouting.

 _Live somewhere else?_ Lance clutched his egg close. But he wanted to go home! He wanted to take his dragon swimming like he did with Adelmo! He wanted to see the ocean again. Lance didn’t want to move away.

The priest stepped forward, hands out. Her own dragon was a tiny thing that wrapped around her neck like an emerald snake. “Merida, please. Your son hasn’t just been picked by _any_ egg. This is Voltron’s only brood. We’ve been waiting for these eggs to find their pairs for _centuries_. You can’t tell me you’re just going to ignore the prophecy because he’s your son?”

Adelmo let out a low growl, tail whipping back and forth across the floor. His mother gestured toward Lance. “No, I’m going to ignore the prophecy because he’s _eight.”_

The Eastern King opened his mouth to say more, but stopped as soon as the room was filled with a pulse of blue light. All eyes snapped towards Lance, but for once, the boy didn’t notice. He was staring at the egg in his hand in wonder. Beneath his fingers he could feel the baby dragon turning inside. 

Suddenly a crack spread across the egg. Whatever Lance had been feeling before, it was replaced with a giddy excitement. The crack widened and the egg split straight down the middle.

Lance had heard people say that the manner in which a dragon broke out of its shell said a lot about its destiny. The way his mother’s eyes tightened around the edges at the sight of the split, Lance had a feeling his meant nothing good.

But then the shell tore in half and Lance was greeted by the sight of the bluest dragonling he had ever seen. The creature looked to Lance and the boy thought he could see the ocean in its eyes. They stared at each other for a long moment before the little creature let out an excited squeak and threw itself against Lance’s chest.

The boy fell back laughing, running his hands across the dragon’s scales. Its wings were tiny things and its tail ended in a long, fishlike fin. _Perfect for swimming,_ Lance thought and his dragon let out an excited trill.

* * *

 

Lance named his dragon Jewel on account of how gorgeous the little monster was. Even Lance’s oldest sister, Cara, cooed over how pretty Jewel was and Cara’s own dragon was an emerald ribbon-back, a highly sought after breed.

His sister looked up from where she had been running her hands across Jewels back, looking to where their mother sat stroking Adelmo. Neither Adelmo nor his mother looked very happy, but Lance didn’t care. He was just excited to have his own dragon now! Not everyone was lucky enough to be a part of a pair, after all.

“What breed is he?” Cara asked their mom.

Mother’s eyes shifted to the bed, where Lance was busy flipping through a story book while Jewel rested on the small of his back.

“The Priests think he’s a sea faring breed, probably related to the Crest-tails we see now.”

“They don’t know?” Lance looked up, a little surprised. The Priests were supposed to know everything about dragons.

His mother shook her head. “Jewel is a very old dragon. There’s not much known about the species of his time.”

Lance shook his head in disagreement. “ But Jewel isn’t old! He’s just a baby!”

Cara rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but dragons don’t hatch until they find their pair, dummy. Jewel could easily be like a hundred years old or something and you’d have no idea.”

Lance sat up, Jewel making a disgruntled noise as he was dumped on the bed. Lance immediately scooped the dragon up and gave him a long hard look, before turning to Cara, “Jewel doesn’t look a hundred to me.”

“Probably because he’s not,” Mother responded absentmindedly, turning her attention back to Adelmo. “Jewel is one of the last sons of Voltron. He’s probably closer to four thousand years old by my mark.”

Lance gaped at her then looked back to his dragon. “Are you really a half a century old, buddy?”

Jewel tilted his head to the side, then sneezed before trying to bury his head beneath Lance’s shirt. Lance let out a shriek, the dragon’s cold body causing goosebumps to rise along his skin. Jewels head finally popped out of the top of Lance’s shirt and the little dragon let out a huff, cold breath smacking Lance across the face.

“You’re a mean old man,” Lance huffed.

Jewel just laid his head down and began to let out a low rumbling sound, the noise not unlike the purring of a cat. Instead of push him off, Lance settled down on the bed, letting the sound reverberate through his ribs.

He couldn’t help but feel utterly content, like nothing bad could ever happen to the two of them now that they had found each other.

* * *

 

They didn’t make Lance move to the temple. Lance didn’t know why that was ever a possibility. Cara didn’t have to move when she met her dragon, but she had met hers in the hatchery at home. Maybe that was why?

In the end, it didn’t really matter. After the arguments died down, Mother decided to cut their trip short and Lance didn’t argue with her decision. He was ready to take Jewel home and show his dragon the ocean. Little else mattered to the boy beyond that.

Now, Lance sat in the carriage with Jewel and his nanny. Jewel kept on popping his head out of the carriage window to look up at the sky where his mother flew overhead on Adelmo. The dragonling turned back towards Lance before diving into the boy’s arms, chattering senselessly.

Amused, Lance made a chattering noise back and Jewel stared at him in horror before letting out a cold sneeze and turning back towards the window, shooting a glare towards Lance before going back to look for Adelmo. Lance snorted. Apparently he’d insulted Jewel in dragon speak? That was a new trick.

Then an idea struck Lance and he quickly turned back towards his nanny. “When are the other eggs gonna hatch?”

His nanny blinked at him. “What now, dear?”

“Jewel’s broodmates? When are they gonna hatch? Are we gonna be friends with them too?” Lance’s eyes lit up at the thought. The orange egg had seemed nice and the green one had been really small. Lance bounced in his seat, suddenly excited at the prospect of new friends. “Oh my gosh! What are their names? Are they going to look the same Jewel? Are they gonna be just as pretty?”

His nanny gave Lance the signal to slow down and the boy stopped. Jewel had apparently taken interest in the conversation and now plopped in the boy’s lap, staring wide eyed at their nanny.

“The others might not hatch for some time now, dear. No one knows who their pairs are and that’s not for lack of trying,” his nanny explained and Lance couldn’t keep the disappointment from seeping into his expression.

“Oh.”

“Don’t be so down though. When they do hatch, you’re going to have friends for life! And you’ll never be lonely after that.”

Lance tilted his head to the side, processing this new tidbit of information. “How do you know?”

“Because they’re Jewel’s broodmates and that makes them your broodmates too. Your souls are connected to them the same way you and Jewel are connected.”

At that, Lance thought of the four eggs sitting back at the Eastern City. His eyes turned to his Nanny, “So they’re my soulmates?”

His nanny laughed. “In a way, I guess so.”

Lance brightened. “That’s awesome! What do you think they’re gonna be like? Do you think they like to swim? What if they don’t fish? Wait! What if they’re meanie heads? No, I wouldn’t be soulmates with a meanie head. Oh my gosh! What if they’re older than me?” Lance’s eyes widened in horror as an even worse thought occurred to him. He swallowed hard, holding Jewel close to his chest. “Nan, What if they don’t like me?”

His nanny gave him a soft look. “Of course they’ll like you dear. You’re the perfect soulmate, after all.”

Lance nodded, frowning as his brain churned. He wasn’t so certain if what his Nanny said was true, but Lance decided in that moment that was going to make it true. He was going to make sure he could do everything possible to take care of his brood mates so that when they were found, they’d never have to worry about being separated.

No one liked to be lonely after all and Lance would make sure that, after they were found, his broodmates were never lonely again.

* * *

 

His brood mates took a long time coming though.

That first year, Lance thought they’d be found at any moment. He watched Jewel get bigger and bigger and he waited for his friends to appear to no avail.

Jewel stopped growing by the time Lance turned ten. At his full size, he dragon was a little larger than a horse, his legs close to the ground. The pair learned one night that Jewel’s wings were just as well built for the sky as they were for the water and, after that, they were inseparable from the sea. 

It was like the sky and the ocean were one domain, _their domain,_ and some days Jewel would take Lance down to the depths of the ocean, pulling him until Lance’s lungs burned, and everything grew far away. Beneath the waves, it started to feel like nothing could touch them, not even the pain of their missing brood mates.

And Lance learned not to think about them too much. He learned how to distract himself, how to throw himself whole heartedly into everything he did so he could avoid the loneliness that threatened to strangle him whenever he dared to examine it too closely.

Despite this, though, Lance didn’t go back on his promise to protect his brood mates. He mastered any skill he could.

By the time Lance was twelve, he knew more about flight magic than some of his teachers. At thirteen, he could beat all three of his sisters in a fight. And at fourteen, Lance graduated at the top of his flight class and almost started to believe it when his teachers complimented him. He almost started to believe he could be useful.

After that, his mother hired as many tutors as she could and Lance poured all of his determination into his lessons. Anything to be the best soul mate. After all, at the rate Lance’s broodmates were taking to find their eggs, they were going to need someone who knew which way was up.

* * *

 

A week before his sixteenth birthday, Lance took Jewel to the cliffs. The ocean stretched before them, light glistening off the surface. Jewel let out a sneeze, frost billowing from his nostrils, and gave Lance an incredulous look.

“Oh come on, this is going to work,” Lance assured him, moving to check the straps on Jewel’s saddle. “We’ve tested it as much as we could. There’s no reason the breathing magic shouldn’t work underwater.”

Jewel sent a wave of exasperation through their  bond-link and Lance wanted to laugh. For the past two years, the pair had been trying to modify flight spells for the water. The thermal spell had been easy enough. There really wasn’t much difference between the ocean and high altitudes when it came to heat. It was the breathing spells that were giving them trouble.

Big surprise, air and water were completely different when it came to how they interacted with oxygen. Even the way the pressure changed was different and altering the spells was no simple task.

But Lance finally thought he had it figured out. This charm was going to be _perfect._ It was designed to be fluid, reacting to the environment to change the pressurization and flow of oxygen so that Lance and Jewel could easily shift between air and water. All Lance needed to do was test it out. Taking a deep breath, Lance cast the charm before climbing onto Jewel’s back.

“Okay, buddy,” Lance pressed against his dragon’s saddle, pulling his goggles into place. “Here goes nothing.”

At that, Jewel bunched his muscles and launched himself off the side of the cliff. The dragon coasted for a moment, banking on the air currents to gain altitude, before snapping his wings shut and shooting towards the sea. In that moment, Jewel looked more like a seabird than a dragon.  

The pair slipped under the surface, a stream of bubbles marking their impact site. They slowed, Jewel going at a steady pace, and Lance took in a deep breath.

Despite his assurances from earlier, Lance still half expected to breath in a lung full of sea water. Instead, he took in a huff of fresh air. Lance felt a thrill of excitement and Jewel immediately began taking them deeper, humming a low song that sounded more like a whale than a dragon.

They went so far the water began to grow dark. Jewel darted forwards, past a pod of dolphins, and let out a high trilling noise. His scales soon began to glow a light blue, something Lance had never seen him do before.

Lance pumped his fist in the air, a bubble of air escaping his mouth as he shouted with joy, and then froze.

 Above them, the surface of the water glimmered like a portal to another world, streaks of light filtering down from the surface. The ocean was even more beautiful down here than it was from the air. Lance felt his heartbeat quicken and Jewel let out a happy rumble before shooting towards the surface. They broke through the surface with a spray of water, Jewel breaching like a whale before shooting into the sky.

The dragon really was something special. Forget the fact that Jewel was the son of Voltron, forget the fact that he and his brood mates were the result of some long awaited prophecy, this moment alone made Jewel seem like the most perfect thing on the planet.

* * *

 

That night, Lance came running into the castle, Jewel at his heels. He pushed into the throne room, ready to boast to his mother and sisters about his success with the flight magic. The moment he stepped into the room through, Cara had him wrapped him in a tight hug, stealing his breath away.

“Oh, god, Lance,” she said, voice thick, “we’ve been looking everywhere for you. We thought something had happened.”

Lance pushed her away. “I was just out for a swim. I mean, you know me and Jewel. Part fish, as always,” he joked, trying to lighten the mood, but neither his sister nor his mother joined in.

Suddenly Lance didn’t feel so sure of himself. His eyes went to his mom, to the way she stroked Adelmo, like she was looking for reassurance, and his heart fell. Jewel pressed against Lance’s side immediately, trying to comfort his pair.

“Mom? What happened?” Lance’s eyes went to Cara, to the way his sister’s eyes were red and tear-stained, “Why were you looking for me?”

Cara opened her mouth, but no words escaped. Lance looked towards his mother and was surprised by the amount of grief in her eyes. She stood, Adelmo keeping pace with her as she came and wrapped Lance in a soft hug.

“Lance, I’m so sorry,” she murmured into his ear. “It’s the Dragon Temple in the Eastern City. It was attacked by the Galra.”

Lance’s vision went white. He stumbled back and he would’ve fallen if Jewel hadn’t been there to catch him. The dragon helped lower Lance to the ground, pressing his head against Lance’s back, trying to comfort. Except Jewel was heart-broken too. Lance could feel the dragon’s grief just as strongly as he could feel his own.

“The other eggs. They got out, right? They’re okay?” Lance asked, voice small.

Cara mouthed a soft ‘no’ and Lance felt sick. All his life Lance had been waiting for his soulmates, he’d been ready for them to come home, but now that would never happen. It was a terrible sensation, losing a part of himself he had never known, and now it was a feeling Lance would never be able to escape.

Now, Lance and Jewel would be alone forever.

 


	2. Keith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith's life was never easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here's the long overdue update. this chapter is way different than the original ch 2. I wanted the pic to focus a little more on Keith's background and make his being half galra a larger part of his character.

When Keith was eight years old, he got in a fight with a kid twice his size because the kid called Keith’s mom a Batty. It didn’t matter that Keith hardly remembered his mom, that he hadn’t seen a Galra in town since the war against Zarkon began, he wasn’t going to let some idiot badmouth his mom based on something as stupid as race.

He broke the kids nose and got kicked out of the only school in their shitty town. For good. When Keith’s aunt went to yell at the principal, when she insisted that kids fight and banning Keith from school for it was idiocy, the principal told her that Keith was too unstable to continue attending. Keith had too much Galra blood in him to be trusted around the likes of human children.

 

His aunt Silvia walked Keith out of the school, her grip on his hand almost painful. She was walking fast, dragging a struggling Keith behind her, and by the time they made it to the end of the street, Keith finally managed to wriggle out of her grip. He put a few feet between himself and his aunt, breathing heavy.

“ _Keith_ ,” Aunt Silvia said, so much conveyed in that single word.

Keith glanced away sharply, body taut. A lump formed in the back of his throat. His aunt gave him a soft look, before crouching down and wrapping him in a tight hug. Keith sniffled, burying his face in her shoulder.

“We’re gonna figure something out, baby,” she said, rubbing his back.

And even though he didn’t believe her, Keith nodded anyway.  There was no point in upsetting her by disagreeing.

* * *

 

For three days, Keith wandered around the house in a daze. He was supposed to be in classes, supposed to be getting ready for school, but the school didn’t want him. He was unsafe. He was an animal waiting to snap and that meant he couldn’t be trusted around the good kids.

It all kind of made Keith want to scream.

 

His aunts finally found him underneath his bed, a blanket pulled over his head, and Aunt Silvia laid down on her stomach so that they were eye to eye. She rubbed circles into Keith’s lower back, making small noises that were supposed to be comforting.

“They think I’m bad,” Keith said, voice hollow. He was staring at Aunt Laura’s slippers. While Silvia had gone to comfort Keith, her wife had gone and sat on the bed, listening to the conversation without really being a part of it. Keith found that he liked her style. People were trouble, after all. 

“Oh honey,” Silvia said, “they don’t know you. They’re just idiots. They don’t know a thing about you.”

Keith nodded, but found that he didn’t exactly agree with Aunt Silvia’s statement. Because the others knew one thing about him, and that thing just happened to be a deal breaker for them.

“Keith,” Aunt Laura said then, “Can you come out here for a moment? I have something I need to talk to you about.”

“Not now, Laura,” Silvia begged. 

“Yes, now. We don’t have any more time to discuss this.” Then, “Keith?”

Keith swallowed hard, but wriggled out from under the bed. He stood under his Aunt Laura’s gaze, trying to seem as strong as she did in that moment. Aunt Laura rubbed a thumb across the line of his jaw before letting out a breath.

“You know we love you, don’t you, baby?” She asked and Keith nodded. After his mom and dad had left him, his aunts had taken him in. They had always been there for Keith when he needed saving. “All right. Then you know we only want what’s best for you, right?”

“Yeah,” Keith said, unsure if he liked where this was headed.

Aunt Laura paused. Keith looked to his Aunt Silvia and saw that she seemed hurt, like the conversation before her was physically painful to watch.

“We talked to your Uncle Kei—you remember him, don’t you? He came to your birthday last year—and he’s willing to let you live with him and his family in the capital,” Aunt Laura said then. “With him, you’ll be able to go to school and have friends. You can have a life that you can’t get here. You’ll even have an older brother. You remember Shiro, don’t you? You liked Shiro.”

“You’re—” Keith paused. “You’re sending me away?”

“Baby, we’re just trying to do what’s best for you,” Silvia said then.

Keith glance down at his feet and swallowed hard. He found he couldn’t speak past the lump forming in his throat. His dad had left. His mom had left. His aunts were sending him away. How long until Uncle Kei got bored and decided to throw Keith out too?

* * *

 

The Shirogane’s lived on the outskirts of the capital, on a plantation where the roads were made of stone. They had servants and a big white house with paper doors and jasmine growing in the window boxes.

The cart pulled to a stop and Uncle Kei let Keith out of the back of the carriage, handing the boy his bag before helping the driver grab the rest of their things. Keith stood there, looking over the fruit trees and the fields of camellia plants and wondering how he was going to fit in here.

Uncle Kei had drunk tea from a clay mug the entire drive, the smell pungent. Keith had never had tea in his life. He wondered if that was all these people drank. What if he didn’t like tea? Would they kick him out? What would Keith do then? He was quickly running out of relatives who wanted him.

“You head on in, now,” Uncle Kei said, gesturing Keith forward. “This is your home now. You’re welcome here.”

Nodding, Keith slung his bag on his shoulder and pushed inside. He was immediately greeted by the sight of a large black and white dog sprinting towards him, the animal barking wildly. Keith let out a yelp, dropping his things and turning back towards the door, pushing outside. Keith heard something slam into the door, looked back, saw the dog on his heels, and ran faster. He briefly processed Uncle Kei shouting for him, but didn’t stop to yell back.

His first day here and Keith was going to get eaten by a wild dog. It was the perfect ending to the already shitty series of events that had landed him here to begin with. Then Keith tripped and the dog was on top of him, teeth flashing, tongue lolling. The animal began lapping at Keith’s face and the boy yelped, trying to push  the dog away before the thing decided it’d like Galra for dinner.

“Slav! Slav! What did I tell you about jumping up on people!” A young voice shouted. Suddenly the dog was grabbed by the scruff and pulled away from Keith. The animal let out a whine, tail thumping, and Keith let out a breath of relief, eyes falling on Shiro. The older boy kept one hand on the dog’s neck and offered Keith the other. “Sorry about Slav. He’s nice, but he just gets excited when new people come over.”

Keith nodded, letting Shiro hoist him up off the ground before going to wipe some of the dog drool off himself. “I don’t like dogs,” Keith said then.

“Aw, but Slav is nice,” Shiro said, giving the dog a pat. The animal’s tail thwacked the ground a few times and all Keith could think was how, even sitting down, the animal came up to the boy's shoulder. “Look, he even knows tricks! Slav, down!” Shiro pointed and the dog laid on the ground. “And roll over! Now shake!” Shiro offered the dog his hand and the animal gave the older boy its paw. He looked to Keith, “You wanna try? He listens really well.”

Keith paused, considering. Before he could make a decision though, they both heard Uncle Kei shouting their names.  Keith glanced around, realizing the dog had chased him into one of the camellia fields. He briefly wondered if they were about to get in trouble for being somewhere they didn’t belong. Then Uncle Kei pushed through a row of camellia plants, finding the two boys, and let out a breath.

“Oh thank the gods. If I lost you on your first day here, your Aunt Silvia would have killed me,” Uncle Kei said, before turning to give Shiro a stern look. “I thought I told you to keep that dog in the kitchen until Keith got settled.”

“He broke through the door,” Shiro said.

Uncle Kei gave the dog a long suffering look. “Again? I swear, Shiro, that mutt is a hazard.” 

* * *

 

That night, after Keith had curled up on his bed, he heard a knock on his door.

“Come in,” Keith said.

The door slid open, revealing Shiro and Slav. To Keith’s dismay, he’d found that the two were practically inseparable. During dinner, the dog had even laid underneath the table, head resting on Shiro’s boots. Keith had even watched the older boy slip the animal a few strips of beef.

“Hey,” Shiro waved, coming to sit on the foot of Keith’s bed. Slav jumped up beside him and Keith jerked away, pulling his knees closer to his chest. Slav let out a whine, crawling closer to Keith only to stop the moment Shiro laid a hand on the dog’s flank. “You know, he really is nice. If you wanted to pet him, I’m sure he’d really appreciate it.”

Keith shook his head. It was bad enough he had to move in with strangers and leave his aunts behind, now he had to share a house with an animal and Keith and animals had never really managed to get along. Keith didn’t know if they could smell his Galra blood or if he was just generally off putting, but animals tended to like to bite him.

Shiro let out a breath, before ordering Slav off the bed. The dog let out a whine, but laid on the carpet, eyes never leaving his owner. “Dad says you’re gonna go to my school next week. I’m a few grades ahead of you so we might not really see each other around, but we can eat lunch together if you want and I can introduce you to my friends, since we’re kind of like brothers now and all.” Shiro smiled, then, when Keith didn’t respond to this, he looked down at his hands. “Do you like your room?” he asked. 

Shrugging, Keith moved to pick at the bedspread.  It was bigger than his old room and the walls were a nice blue color, little spirals painted on the paneling. The window overlooked the camellia fields and altogether the place was nice, much nicer than anything Keith was used to back home. It didn’t take a genius to realize the Shrioganes had money.

After another long moment of silence, Shiro finally stood and headed for the door, dog at his heels. “Well, I’m right across the hall from you, so just holler if you need anything, all right?”

“Okay.”

Then Keith was alone. He stared after Shiro, wondering why the boy was trying so hard to be friends. Didn't he know Keith was dangerous? 

Then again, he'd called them brothers. Keith found he sort of liked the sound of that. 

* * *

 

A month after Keith turned sixteen, he walked into his room to find Slav lying on his bed, chewing on a large stick. Keith threw his backpack on the ground and let out an annoyed breath. Slav wasn’t allowed in Keith’s room, but the dog kept finding a way to smuggle himself in. It was like Slav knew how much he annoyed the youngest member of the Shirogane household.

“Shiro!” Keith hollered. “Your dog’s gotten his mangy butt all over my bed again!”

Then, when Shiro didn’t appear, Keith shook his head and grabbed Slav by the collar. The dog whimpered, but didn’t protest as he was pulled off the bed and towards Shiro’s door. 

“Shiro,” Keith  said, knocking loudly. “Come on, man. You know whenever you lock him out, he comes and bugs me. Seriously.” Some days, Keith couldn’t help but wish that Shiro was a cat-person instead. Slav was just so needy. “Shiro,” Keith groaned and pushed open the door.

Shiro glanced up, as though surprised by Keith’s sudden appearance. He was at his desk, book open, and Keith wanted to laugh. Shiro was the worst when it came to multitasking. When he had his mind on something, you could hit him with a plank and he wouldn’t notice.

“Hey,” he said, shutting his notepad and gestured to Slav. The dog immediately pulled out of Keith’s grasp and jumped up to lick at Shiro’s face, whining happily. “Ay, buddy. I didn’t hear you at the door. Was mean old Keith being grumpy again? I know. I know you’re just trying to make friends.”

“It’s been eight years, Shiro.” Keith said, coming to lean on the wall beside Shiro’s desk, “If we haven’t made peace with each other by now, it’s never gonna happen.” Then his eyes fell on the papers on Shiro’s desk and his face hardened. “What’s all this, anyway?”

“Hm?” Shiro glanced up, giving Slav one last pat. He looked at the papers on his desk and his expression fell, turning guilty, “Oh, uh, I meant to tell you. I decided to apply to the garrison. You know, since I’m eighteen now, I just thought it was time to maybe start planning for the future.”

“The Garrisons on the complete opposite side of the country,” Keith said, voice level. Worse than that, the Garrison was a part of the army. It turned out cannon fodder and Galra hating assholes and now Shiro wanted to be a part of that? Now Shiro was leaving Keith to go get himself killed? Keith swallowed, working hard to keep his expression neutral. 

“Don’t tell me you’re gonna miss me.”

“Please. I’m just wondering what’s gonna happen to your mutt when you go.”

At that, Shiro glanced towards the floor. “I don’t know. Maybe you guys can keep each other company? That is, until you join me over there.”

Keith let out a snap of laughter, making both Shiro and Slav flinch back. The noise was bitter and Keith didn’t try to soften it like he normally would. “Yeah, like they’re gonna let a Galra into the Garrison.”

“ _Keith—“_

“Don’t ‘Keith’ me. You know I’ll never get in and even if I did, they’d be looking for any excuse to expel me. Don’t be stupid, Shiro. Just because you’ve gotten everything handed to you on a silver platter, doesn’t mean the rest of us have gotten the same luxury.”

“Hey, you know I’m the last person who’s against you here,” Shiro said, coming to his feet.

Again, Keith just laughed. “Yeah and what good is that gonna do me now that you’re _leaving_?” Then he turned toward the door, pushing the sense of betrayal he felt back down. “Do whatever you want. Sign up for the army. Get yourself killed fighting Battys,” he scoffed. “Just so long as you keep your dog out of my room, I don’t care.”

 

Back in his room, Keith sat and stared out his window for a long while. It was spring, the camellia plants just beginning to really green, and school would be ending soon. And sure, as Shiro  had approached the end of his last year of general education, Keith had known that the boy was bound to leave. Keith had been prepared for this since day one, since he was three years old and he learned even his dad didn’t love him enough to stick around, but Shiro? Shiro had been around the longest. Keith had been beginning to hope he might stay.

Seemed he had forgotten the first rule of being a Kogane: Everyone gives up on you eventually.

* * *

 

The day Shiro left for the garrison, Keith spent the entire afternoon in the woods behind the fields. He watched the carriage drive off, Slav chasing after it, and he didn’t say goodbye. Afterwards, at dinner, Uncle Kei didn’t ask where Keith had been. He just said that Shiro had asked after him—that Shiro hadn’t wanted to leave without saying goodbye to his little brother.

That’s when Keith realized he was really going to miss the idiot because of everyone who had left over the years, Shiro was  the first to want to stay long enough to say goodbye and now he was going to get himself brainwashed and killed. 

That night, Keith walked by Shiro’s open door and found Slav lying on the bed. The dog looked morose, eyes on the pillows where Shiro’s head should be, and Keith let out a breath.

“Come on, mutt,” he said. Slav perked up, following Keith into his room and jumping up on the bed without a second thought. His tail thumped the covers twice before he laid down and went to sleep.

* * *

 

Eleven months later, Uncle Kei came in, face pale,  letter in hand, and Keith didn’t need to be told what had happened. He knew, just from the look on his uncle’s face, that Shiro had been captured by the enemy.

Keith didn’t know how to react to the news. When he looked up to find himself in his room, nose buried in Slav’s scruff, he didn’t recall making the decision to do so. 

“We need to go and look for him,” Keith said to his aunt that night, one hand resting on Slav’s shoulder. “We have to find him.”

His aunt gave him a pitying look, her eyes still wet with tears, “that’s the garrison’s job, sweetie,” she said. “They’re doing everything they can to find him.”

“He’s just another soldier to them,” Keith argued, because he knew how these things worked. He’d been at the bottom of the barrel long enough to know when people were lying about helping you. The Shirogane’s might have thought Shiro was the garrison’s priority, but they were wrong. They were too used to being waited on hand and foot to know when someone didn’t give a shit about you and your problems. “They won’t look for him. Not really.”

“Just  have patience, son,” Uncle Kei responded and for the first time in his life, Keith wanted to hit the man.

* * *

 

Still, Keith knew better than to act rashly. Shiro had always said that patience yielded focus and just because the guy had been dumb enough to get himself captured by the enemy, that didn’t mean he didn’t have a few pearls of wisdom. So Keith waited and he planned and at night he curled up against Slav and he prayed to every god he could think of for Shiro to be okay.  

 

And sometimes, he would walk by Shiro’s room and see Slav curled up around the older boy’s pillow, small whimpers escaping the dog’s throat. And Keith would sit beside the mutt and rub his muzzle, whispering soft assurances to the dog.

“He’s gonna be okay, buddy,” Keith would say. “He’s gonna be okay.”

* * *

 

Keith left to find Shiro the day one of the workers found Slav dead in the camellia field. The worker came to Keith, hat covering the left side of his chest, and sputtered out apologies.

“He didn’t suffer, sir,” the worker said. “He was an old dog. I think it was just his time.”

“Yeah,” Keith swallowed hard, then he packed his things and left because Shiro didn’t even _know_ that his best friend was gone and Keith would be damned if he didn’t find his brother before Shiro ended up in the same boat as Slav.

* * *

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> YEET lance and jewel go on an adventure! Angst bc why not

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> betcha thought i was gone! you thought wrong mwahahaha i feast on tears

Lance has always tried very hard not to hate, but in the months following the Galra’s attack on the Eastern Temple, Lance learns to hate. It’s not a pleasant process. It’s awful, walking around the rubble of the Eastern Temple with Jewel, looking for any sign of the other eggs. The golden dragon statue, so grand only weeks before, is dented, head torn from its body. Jewel paws at it then turns sad eyes on Lance, confirming what both of them already know.

The eggs are gone. It had been stupid to come here, stupid to hope, and in that moment Lance knows hatred.

They exit the Temple. The eastern king is there with two other knights. His dragon Pandora looks harrowed, a fresh scar arcing across one side like a lightning bolt. Everywhere Lance has gone there have been similar wounds. The people here fought hard for Lance’s broodmates. Some even died.

“Thank you for letting us look,” Lance says, bowing a little.

The king softens. “I’m so sorry,” he says and Lance has a feeling he’s going to have to get used to hearing those words. Everyone seems so set on apologizing to him lately.

Lance nods and climbs onto Jewels back. They lauch off the side of the balcony and climb the air currents, higher and higher until the Eastern City is just a dot below. There are still fires burning in the city, still bodies to be found, and it’s awful. Jewel lets out a roar, the sound heart broken, and Lance asks him to take them higher.

* * *

 

Back home, everybody stares. Lance and Jewel were once a sign of hope, now they’re just another tragedy of war. They spend more and more time on the ocean, to the point where Lance is more familiar with the water than he is with the sky. He can’t go home. Can't listen to his mother argue with the generals about the incoming war. He can't watch his sisters train with the other soldiers, can’t watch the grief settle in the lines of his people.

It occurs to Lance that he would rather be anywhere than his home. When Jewel expresses the same sentiment, the altean knows it’s time to go.

They pack their things, Jewel letting out little grief-stricken hums every once in a while. Neither of them want to leave their family, but it doesn’t feel like they have much of a choice. Lance remembers the days before they perfected the waterbreathing charm, when Jewel would take him down-down-down until the ocean felt like concrete against the altean’s skin. Right now that feeling is everywhere and no matter what charm he casts, Lance still can’t breathe.

Finally Lance presses his forehead to Jewels, fingers rubbing the silken fins on the sides of the dragon’s head. “Ready to go, then?” he asks.

Jewel isn't. Neither of them ever will be ready to leave, but the dragon hums in affirmation anyways.

The two push into the hall, only to run straight into Cara. She’s leaning against the wall, her eyes puffier than usual, and Lance wonders how long she’s been standing there. He wonders if she heard them packing. He wonders if she’s going to try to stop them from leaving.

Instead Cara steps forward, wrapping Lance in a tight hug. “Mother is going to be so upset,” she breathes and Lance’s eyes begin to burn, tears making them sting.

He wishes Cara would say something else. Lance wants her to yell and scream and demand he stay here at the Castle; he desperately wants an excuse to turn back. But Cara is too kind, too understanding, and instead she just gives Lance another squeeze and steps away.

“Do you think she’ll be mad?” Lance asks, Jewel coming to nose his hand.

Cara swallows hard, wiping her eyes, and shakes her head. “No. I think when you went to the Eastern Temple on your own she half expected you to not come back. I think—I think she’ll just be sad.” Cara shifts. “She’ll wish you’d have stayed.”

“I have to go.”

“I know.”

“I cant stay here. Everywhere I go people look at me like I’m dying and I can’t keep doing this. I just can't.”

“Lance, I _know_.”

Lance shuts his eyes then says, voice small, “I wish things were different.”

The words seem to break Cara’s remaining control and tears begin to fall. She wipes at them, a little ashamed to be crying at her age, before nodding. Lance wraps her in another hug then pulls away.

He’s glad when he doesn’t run into anyone else on his way out of the castle. Lance isnt sure he could survive another goodbye.

* * *

 

They coast along the edge of the mountains, then turn south. Lance doesn’t really have a destination in mind and neither does Jewel. Instead they follow the currents, follow the elk and the dolphin, follow Jewel’s instincts and nothing else. They avoid civilization like the plague, feeling much to fragile to risk venturing close.

Lance goes a month without another human soul for company and even when the altean doesn’t think it possible, he and Jewel manage to grow even closer. Their link solidifies, turns to steel chains stretching between them. Eventually they learn to send more than just emotions through the bond, they manage ideas and pictures, sometimes entire words.

The first time it happens though, Lance nearly has a heart attack. He’s alone in their makeshift camp, dozing high up in one of the many pine trees that mark this portion of the land, when he hears a voice shriek in his head.

Lance startles badly, barely managing to catch himself before he falls, and immediately casts out his senses in an attempt to find his attacker, wondering why an enemy caster would weedle through Lance’s mental defenses only to scream _“_ fish _”_ at the top of their lungs and then leave. Lance finds nothing, but his alarm bleeds through his and Jewel’s link and the dragon immedialty aborts his hunting mission.

It isnt until Jewel comes speeding into camp, dropping a half-eaten tuna in the midst of the clearing and immediately tackling Lance to check that his bond-mate is okay, that Lance realizes what happened.

Because of course the first word Lance ever hears his idiot dragon say is fish.

****

* * *

 

The two of them never mean to get involved in the war.

It happens one evening when the two are flying around the center of a large lagoon. They left the coast days ago, followed the mouth of a river inland, and the lagoon is the first large body of water they’ve come across since then. Jewel is having an absolute blast, diving all the way to the bottom of the lagoon then launching himself towards the surface. In the ocean the dragon is all stealth and grace, here he seems to want to try to make the largest splash possible.

Lance can’t stop laughing. For the first time in ages he feels light, like nothing can ever touch them. Jewel lets out a gleeful hum then freezes, pulling up mid-dive. Lance feels the dragon’s fear slice through the bond and the next moment they’re climbing the air currents, heading for the cover the clouds will provide.

“Jewel? What the hell? What’s wrong?” Lance asks, gripping the saddle tightly.

Then he hears it—screaming.

It’s distant, but constant, the sound of a thousand voices wailing in pain, and Lance feels sick. They break through the top of the cloud cover and Jewel twists before heading towards the sound of screaming and when they come to the town, covered in fire and blood and galran soldiers, the two don’t need a second to decide. Jewel dives. Halfway down the dragon opens his maw, a horrible screeching sound coming from Jewel’s nostrils, before releasing a stream of ice at the nearest group of Galra.

Lance draws his bow, dispatching three more before Jewel twists, avoiding a flurry of spears. One of the spears glances off Jewel’s side, barely denting the dragon’s scales, and then the two of them are on the ground and fighting.

Their minds go blank and all Lance feels is the press of Jewel’s flank at his back, the cold stream of the dragon’s breath, and the thwang of his bowstring against his armguard.

They destroy the galra, chase the forces into a dead end and obliderate them. As it turns out, _vrepit sa_ isnt much of a match for a pair-bonds rage.

* * *

 

They stop avoiding towns after that. Suddenly Lance and Jewel have a destination in mind. They skirt around the front lines of the war, obliderating whatever enemy they come across, and pretty soon the rumors start. The Galra call them _Mort Av,_ Death from the Sky, and Lance smiles whenever he hears the name.

It occurs to him that he never pictured himself ever being so bloodthirsty. Then Lance remembers the Eastern Temple, remembers that he and Jewel are supposed to be one of five, not just one, and Lance stops caring so much about being blood thirtsy. He stops worrying about the fact that, six months ago, he’d never even killed a man.

He just stops caring.

 _They took from us,_ Jewel says one night, curled around Lance and watching intently as the altean wraps a wound on his arm.

Lance startles. It’s the longest sentence Jewel has ever managed and it’s filled with grief. Sorrow for thier lost bond mates, of course, but sorrow for something else too. For this awful thing the two of them have become—this creature of hate and ice.

Digging his fingers into the gash on his arm, Lance lets the pain chase away the feeling, holding long enough that Jewel sees it fit to push Lance’s arm away. The dragon licks the wound, mouth cool, and Lance glances away in shame.

“We should have taken the eggs when we had the chance. They were rightfully ours and they obviously weren’t going to find thier humans sitting around the temple,” Lance says bitterly.

Jewel hums and nuzzles Lance’s chin. The altean’s wound has stopped bleeding under the dragon’s minstrations and the flesh feels numb and distant. Most of Lance feels numb and distant these days.

 _Never blamed you,_ Jewel assures.

“I should have protected them. Protected _us.”_

 _The Galra did this. Sendak. Lotor. Zarkon,_ Jewel spits the last word like its a curse, bearing his teeth in a snarl. _Hate them. Not you. Never you._

Dragons were supposed to be too wise to know hate. Lance wonders if he’s failed Jewel in this aspect as well but doesn’t dwell too much on this thought. They are two halves of the same whole. It only makes sense that Jewel would be just as twisted and broken as his rider.

 

**Author's Note:**

> And as always, if you want constant updates on how fics are coming along and stuff or if you just want to buff my ego, you can always follow me on tumblr at [unicornpunk-mifrunner.tumblr.com](https://unicornpunk-mifrunner.tumblr.com) or on twitter at [Mif_Runner](https://twitter.com/MiF_Runner)


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